Mai stood on the beach and watched the setting sun cast the water in the same shade as the lava that bubbled deep within the belly of Mount Peelu, while the gentle waves lapped at her feet and buried them in the loose sand. Her tresses billowed about in the cool evening breeze, a novelty which she quite enjoyed. The younger women of her village had taken her aside at the crack of dawn that day, and undid her girlish braid; anointed it with a sweet smelling herbal paste; and washed it with the hot water from the spring, welcoming her to womanhood.
It wasn't how Mai imagined it would be, though. She had known about the blood and the hot pain in her womb, but somehow, she didn't feel all that different from the last week, before it had finally happened. A little feverish maybe, but she assumed it was the anticipation for her rite of passage tomorrow—men from her village would visit her in the ceremonial hut and induct her, one by one. The women were all quiet about what went on in there, even her mother. Then again, her mother spoke to her only when it was absolutely necessary, and avoided her at all other times.
Mai wished her rite had coincided with a few other girls. She took a deep breath of the tangy sea breeze to clear her head; it helped, just like when she went spearing for fish. She freed her feet from the wet sand and made her way to the cliff. The grandmother had warned her not to wander too far, but it was her last night as a maiden, and she wanted to spend it gazing at the dark glittering beach in the sky; the place where her ancestors went to begin their next life.
Mai didn't encounter anyone from the village; they were busy setting up the ceremonial hut. It had been a year since anyone attained womanhood, and hence it was an occasion to celebrate. She walked eastward, up the gentle hill that ended in an abrupt cliff overlooking the beach. The cliff was her usual haunt away from the village and its mundane life. The breeze was a little stronger up there; it kept the pesky mosquitoes away. She settled down leaning against a smooth boulder, watching the darkness chase away the last colours from the sky.
It wasn't how Mai imagined it would be, though. She had known about the blood and the hot pain in her womb, but somehow, she didn't feel all that different from the last week, before it had finally happened. A little feverish maybe, but she assumed it was the anticipation for her rite of passage tomorrow—men from her village would visit her in the ceremonial hut and induct her, one by one. The women were all quiet about what went on in there, even her mother. Then again, her mother spoke to her only when it was absolutely necessary, and avoided her at all other times.
Mai wished her rite had coincided with a few other girls. She took a deep breath of the tangy sea breeze to clear her head; it helped, just like when she went spearing for fish. She freed her feet from the wet sand and made her way to the cliff. The grandmother had warned her not to wander too far, but it was her last night as a maiden, and she wanted to spend it gazing at the dark glittering beach in the sky; the place where her ancestors went to begin their next life.
~
Mai didn't encounter anyone from the village; they were busy setting up the ceremonial hut. It had been a year since anyone attained womanhood, and hence it was an occasion to celebrate. She walked eastward, up the gentle hill that ended in an abrupt cliff overlooking the beach. The cliff was her usual haunt away from the village and its mundane life. The breeze was a little stronger up there; it kept the pesky mosquitoes away. She settled down leaning against a smooth boulder, watching the darkness chase away the last colours from the sky.
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